MICE: Conference Report for World Association of Travel Agencies

This report details the planning and execution of a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) conference for the World Association of Travel Agencies (WATA), aiming to address contemporary issues within the MICE sector and emphasize corporate social responsibility. The report outlines the conference's objectives, including determining contemporary issues and evaluating the emphasis on corporate social responsibility. It selects Albert Hall in Nottingham, UK, as the venue and proposes a three-day schedule for 250 international attendees. The report provides a detailed budget, marketing plan, and tentative schedule for the event. Furthermore, it includes internal and external analyses using SWOT and PESTLE frameworks, offering recommendations to enhance the conference's success. The study uses qualitative research methods to examine the contemporary issues in the MICE sector and the role of corporate social responsibility.

TLH 219 MICE: Meetings,
Incentives Conferences &
Exhibitions

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Destination and venue.................................................................................................................5
Costing recommendation............................................................................................................5
Proposed budget..........................................................................................................................6
Marketing plan............................................................................................................................6
Tentative schedule for carrying out conference event................................................................8
Internal and external analysis......................................................................................................9
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................11
LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
The meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition event in turn has been increasing
rapidly. MICE in turn is considered to be a type of tourism where large groups who in turn
usually plan in advance to effectively carry out a particular event (Smagina, Magomedov, and
Buklanov, 2017). It is considered to be a niche for group tourism which focuses on planning,
facilitating conference, bookings, carrying out seminars and business events. This study will
highlight on addressing various contemporary issues associated with the MICE sector.
Furthermore, this study will also highlight on organizing the conference related with the World
Association of Travel Agencies. This mainly includes venue and destination, cost associated with
accommodation, conference, venue. IT support, supporting leisure programs, etc. This study also
includes proposed budget and marketing plan. Furthermore, this study includes tentative
schedule for specific conference events. This report further examines internal and external
analysis associated with the conference with appropriate recommendation in order to support
contemporary aims related with the conference. World Association of Travel Agencies was
established which helps in protecting the interest of the Travel agencies across the globe. It is
considered to be as a mean to collaborate with hotels, cruises, airlines, transport and several other
vendors.
Aim:
“To organize a conference for World Association of Travel Agencies in order to put
strong emphasize on the contemporary issues within MICE sector and its emphasis on corporate
social responsibility where they attract 250 international audiences.”
Research Objectives:
 To determine contemporary issues within MICE sector.

 To evaluate emphasis of on corporate social responsibility.
Research questions:
 What are the contemporary issues within MICE sector and how corporate social
responsibility leads to better performance?
Research methods
The researcher of the study uses qualitative research methods in order to determine
contemporary issues within MICE sector and how corporate social responsibility leads to
better performance.
MAIN BODY
The meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition event sector is considered to be one
of the most crucial segment of the tourism and hospitality industry (Banu, 2016). The MICE
sector in turn helps in giving greater touristic and also results in the economic growth where the
event has been carried out. Meeting is considered to be an occasion where people come together
for a particular purpose. Incentives is referred to as the encouragement within the companies by
effectively rewarding employees. Conferences is considered to be as the large official meeting
which in turn last for few days. Exhibitions is referred to as the collection of work which in turn
has been showcased to the public. MICE sector is considered to be one of the niche group of
tourism which aids on planning, facilitating conference, bookings, carrying out seminars and
business events. World Association of Travel Agencies focuses on promoting travel trade and in
turn also act as a common platform which in turn helps in sharing problems (Lee and Fenich,
2016, April). It also tends to provide information associated with the travel and in turn also
focuses on controlling and regulating the travel trade organization. World Association of Travel
Agencies also in turn focuses on preserving and protecting the cultural tourism resources. It also

helps in promotion of ethics of standards and focus on formulating guidelines in order to support
the travel sector. The report carried out is based on three day conferences which in turn is
supposed to be held in summers in the year 2019. This conference event is supposed to attract
250 international audiences which comprise of government representatives, key stakeholders,
personnel, leading figures, etc. the guests will come from across the globe and the gender split is
fifty- fifty. Albert hall conference centre, Nottingham in United Kingdom has been selected to
carry out the conference of World Association of Travel Agencies (Nistoreanu and Stoian, 2017,
July). The budget for each delegate is £250 excluding flights and accommodation. The first day
of the conference event mainly constitute of team building activity. On the second day of the
conference, optional set of leisure activity tends to carry out alongside the conference. On the
last day of the conference event, a formal dinner in the evening with several entertainment
activities and performance.
Destination and venue
The World Association of Travel Agencies conference event will take place at Albert hall
conference centre, Nottingham in United Kingdom on 27, 28 and 29 February, 2020. The timing
for the event will be 1:00 p.m till 9:00 p.m. Albert hall conference centre is considered to be
perfect for the World Association of Travel Agencies conference event because it tends to attract
national and local conference which in turn is used to carry out conference events, banqueting
and entertainment venues. The venue mainly constitute of Great hall and 10 conference rooms of
varying sizes. Albert hall conference centre tends to have huge seating capacity with improved
ventilation, proper bar and restaurant facility, effective backstage areas and better technical
facilities (Smagina, 2017). The seating area of the Albert hall conference centre tends to have
appropriate legroom, soundproof auditorium, proper lighting and improved sightliness. It also

has facilities like access to the AV packages, removable arena seating, technical specifications,
etc. This is considered to be the perfect destination and venue in order to attract 250 international
audiences which comprise of government representatives, key stakeholders, personnel, leading
figures, etc. from across the globe.
Costing recommendation
The estimated cost to book the Albert hall conference centre is approximately £800 per
day. The estimated cost associated with the catering for 250 delegates is approximately £3500
per day. For accommodation hotel will be booked with the sharing of 2 people in each room.
Around 125 rooms will be booked in order to accommodate 250 guests. One room on an average
will cost around £120 for one night. The transportation cost associated with city tour, pick up and
drop is estimated to be £300 for one day. Cost associated with the additional leisure programs
and activities is estimated to be £500 per day.
Proposed budget
The budgeted plan to effectively carry out the conference activities conducted by The
World Association of Travel Agencies is estimated to be around £250 per person i.e., £62500 for
250 delegates. The estimated budget plan to carry out the conference event are as follows:
PARTICULARS BUDGET (PER DAY) BUDGET (3 DAYS)
Venue £800 £2400
Catering £3500 £10500
Accommodation (sharing of 2
people in each room)
£120 for 125 rooms £45000
Transportation £300 £900

Additional leisure programs £500 £1500
Marketing expense - £500
Cost associated with AV
equipments
- £350
Salary to employees and other
service charge
£430 £1300
TOTAL £5650 £62450
Marketing plan
Marketing plan in turn is considered to be one of the most comprehensive document
which in turn helps in providing a blueprint which in turn effectively outlines the marketing and
advertising efforts for the World Association of Travel Agencies conference event (Kelly, Marsh
and McNicoll, 2019).
 Creating personas (Targeting)
This helps in determining people who will be attending the World Association of Travel
Agencies event. Around 250 international audiences which constitutes of government
representatives, key stakeholders, personnel, leading figures, etc. from across the globe will
come and attend the conference event which will be held at Albert hall conference centre,
Nottingham in United Kingdom on 28th February 2020.
 Establishing clear set of goals
The World Association of Travel Agencies event tends to focus on putting more
emphasis on the key aim of the conference event (Pearlman, 2016, January). This is where they

need to focus on by putting strong emphasis on the corporate social responsibility of the World
Association of Travel Agencies.
 Selecting the best marketing tools
World Association of Travel Agencies tend to focus on attracting customers by advertising and
promoting the conference event through social media marketing platforms such as Instagram,
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, search engine optimization, etc.
 Making people aware about the venue
With the help of advertisement on social media platform proper description about the
destination, venue, date, time, event details, entertainment activities, accommodation, services,
etc. must be mentioned clearly (Cousins and et.al., 2019).
 Articulating events value proposition
The key value proposition of attending this event is mainly associated with the World
Association of Travel Agencies event is to examine the contemporary issues associated with the
meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition event.
 Creating visuals from the previously conducted events
The key marketing strategy is to effectively provide clear visuals associated with the
conference event which in turn has been conducted earlier (Soler Sancho, 2018). This helps in
attracting audience for the current conference event.
 Coordinating events with co- marketing initiatives
An effective plan is to collaborate with the co- marketing agencies which in turn helps in
delivering more leads, awareness and buzz (What You Haven't Learned About Marketing a
Conference Center, 2019).

 Measuring the performance of conference event with appropriate key performance
indicator
Lastly, the World Association of Travel must in turn focus on integrating software and
key performance indicators such as event check in, live polling, social media engagement, etc. in
order to assess the performance of the conference event.
Tentative schedule for carrying out conference event
The World Association of Travel conference event will take place at Albert hall
conference centre, Nottingham in United Kingdom on 27, 28 and 29 February 2020. The timing
for the event will be 1:00 p.m till 9:00 p.m.
27th February 2020
12:00 to 1:00 P.M. Lunch
1:30 to 3:30 P.M. Addressing CSR activities carried out by The
World Association of Travel.
3:30 to 5:00 P.M. Brunch time
5:00 to 7:30 P.M. Team building activity
7:30 to 9:00 P.M Dinner
28th February 2020
12:00 to 1:00 P.M. Lunch
1:30 to 3:30 P.M. Addressing contemporary issues associated
with The World Association of Travel.

3:30 to 5:00 P.M. Brunch time
5:00 to 7:30 P.M. Leisure activity
7:30 to 9:00 P.M Dinner
29th February 2020
12:00 to 1:00 P.M. Lunch
1:30 to 3:30 P.M. Addressing contemporary issues associated
with The World Association of Travel.
3:30 to 5:00 P.M. Brunch time
5:00 to 7:30 P.M. City tour
7:30 to 9:00 P.M Dinner with entertainment
Internal and external analysis
Internal analysis for effectively carrying out The World Association of Travel conference
event is done with the help of SWOT analysis.
Strength: The key strength of this conference event is that, The World Association of
Travel is considered to be one of the leading association which aids at providing information
related with the travel (Abdullah and Margono, 2017). It also focuses on controlling and
regulating the travel trade organization. Another key strength of the World Association of
Travel Agencies is to focus on preserving and protecting the cultural tourism resources.

Weaknesses: The key weakness associated with the World Association of Travel
conference is associated with poor infrastructure and existing collaboration network in countries.
Opportunity: The key opportunity is that, the World Association of Travel conference
event aids to corporate social responsibility by effectively addressing contemporary issues
associated with the event (Smagina, Magomedov, and Buklanov, 2017). This in turn helps in
better collaboration and working of the various travel companies and agencies associated with
the association. This helps in gaining more information to perform better.
Threat: Improvement in integration of advanced technology and other companies taking
over results in lower market position and threat to the association.
External analysis
External analysis for effectively carrying out The World Association of Travel
conference event is done with the help of PESTLE analysis.
Political factors: These factors mainly comprise of several trade policy, funding grants,
labour laws, tax policy, political instability of the destination, terrorist, war, etc. in turn largely
affects the conference event within the hospitality industry (Nistoreanu and Stoian, 2017, July).
Economic factors: Factors which in turn largely affects the operations of the events
within hospitality industry is mainly associated with the disposable income, economic growth,
inflation and interest rate, interstate taxes, etc. in turn largely affects the conference event within
the hospitality industry.
Social factors: These factors mainly comprise of demographics, cultural trend education,
image of the organization, attitude of the employees, emphasis on safety, growth in the
population, etc. in turn largely affects its business operations.

Technological factors: Factors which in turn largely affects the operations of the events
within hospitality industry is mainly associated with the continuous advancement in the
technology, rate of terotechnological change, technological incentives, cost associated with the
research and development activity, etc. in turn largely affects the conference event within the
hospitality industry (Kelly, Marsh and McNicoll, 2019).
Environmental factors: Ecological factors like accessibility to geographical locations,
environmental legislations, weather and climate, etc. in turn largely influence the conference
event within the hospitality industry.
Legal factors: Factors which in turn largely affects the operations of the events within
hospitality industry is mainly associated with the employment law, health and safety law,
consumer law, anti-trust law, discrimination law, advertisement standards, future legislations,
competitive legislations, etc. in order to perform in a legal manner.
Recommendation
The effective recommendation strategy to overcome understaffing of the employees at
the time of carrying conference event is to determine ways that aids in identifying optimum
staffing levels. In order to resolve issues associated with the overspending. The World
Association of Travel tends to prepare a proper budget plan which in turn helps in allocating cost
to each activity and operations of the conference event. Selecting the right destination and venue
helps in attracting customers from across the globe (Abdullah and Margono, 2017). Selecting the
right venue with proper facilities helps in successfully carrying out the event. Continuous
integration with the advanced technology in turn helps in making the event more worthwhile.
Change in environmental and political condition, proper back up plan must be there for
successful carrying out of an event. Prioritizing of the networking activities in turn is considered